Number XIII
by JaieHawthorne
Summary: What if Roxas wasn't the thirteenth member of the Organization? What if someone else came first? No pairings. OC.


**So, I finally decided to post this. Yes, I'm aware how much OC stories usually suck and are mary-sueish and blah blah blah but I'm doing it anyway. Deal. Anyway, I'm not 100% sure where I'm going to go with this. I'm just kinda gonna wing it. Anyway, enjoy.**

Prologue - Change

"Hey! Wait! Come back!" The only sounds I can hear are my pounding footsteps and the clink-clink-clink of a leash, wrenched out of my hand, and being dragged along the worn stone street after a small, happily barking dog.

"Zoey! Come back!" I panted, trying in vain to catch up to the speeding little canine darting ahead of me until she sped around a corner and out of sight. _Great,_ I thought to myself. It would be all too easy to lose my poor pup in the twisting streets and alleys that made up Twilight Town. I opened my mouth to yell again, but was cut off by a panicked yelp.

Skidding around the corner, I found Zoey cornered next to a large dumpster by a black creature that looked vaguely human-shaped, with two large antennas jutting out of its head. At my sharp gasp, it turned to me, empty yellow eyes staring unblinkingly. The thing started walking towards me slowly, antennas twitching feverishly. I backed away slowly, my mind working at about a hundred miles an hour.

_What is this thing? Is it going to kill me? What do I do, what do I do. What. Do. I. Do.?_ Zoey whimpered pathetically a few feet away, then turned and fled. She never was the bravest dog, but that wasn't my biggest problem. The... thing was only a foot away from me. It took one last step and then stopped; it gave me an almost curious look, as if deciding whether it was worth it to kill me or not. The monster slowly reached out with a black clawed hand. It rested against my chest for a moment, and then plunged _through my skin._ It felt like ice had surrounded my heart, no, like my heart was _made of_ ice. The creature's empty eyes met mine, and then, with one final, shuddering breath, I blacked out.

When I came to, the things were gone. _Probably crawled back to whatever hole they slinked out of,_ I thought, and then stopped, surprised at how calm I sounded. Sure, I was ticked, but I wasn't panicking. I had almost _died._ I shouldn't be _alive_, and yet, my brain was functioning at a totally normal speed. No panic, no freaking out. I had a random thought of all those near-death experiences in movies and books, where the character's heart is always pounding at a million miles an hour. My hand slid up to my chest slowly. _Nothing._ Not a single thud. _Am I... dead?_ I wondered silently.

My gaze slid around the area. I was near the center of town, but no one was outside. I glanced up; the sky was dotted with twinkling stars. _How long was I out? _I looked around again, my eyes drawn to a storefront nearby. There was a streetlight near it, so everything reflected off it, like a mirror. I didn't _look _dead, but something did seem changed about me. My reddish-brown hair seemed a little redder and brighter in general. My gold eyes sparkled a bit more than usual. If anything, I seemed more alive than before.

After I stood there for a few minutes, the silence started to get to me. "This is officially the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me. _Ever._" I said, not for any other reason than to have a bit of noise on the silent street. "If it wasn't, I'd be quite concerned." I whirled around. A tall man in a long black cloak was behind me, a hood was pulled over his head, so I couldn't see his face.

"Who are you?" I asked. To my surprise, he laughed and shook his head, amused.

"Why is that always the first question? 'Who are you?' 'What do you want?' It gets repetitive after a while, you know?"

I snorted, "You sneak up on unsuspecting girls often?" I replied smoothly, not letting my fear show in my voice.

He smiled, a creepy flash of white under his dark hood, "Often enough. Anyway, to answer your original question, my name is Xigbar. And you are coming with me."

I blinked, staring blankly at him, "W-why?"

Xigbar sighed, "If I explained why, we'd be here for hours. And you don't want some poor unsuspecting passerby to see us and call the cops on me, do you?"

"It's a rather appealing option, actually." I answered, "Can I at least know where we're going?"

Xigbar thought for a moment, "You have a chance of being recruited to Organization XIII."

"That's not a 'where'." I pointed out.

"It's close enough. Now, come on."

"Wait, what about my family? Friends? My dog, for Pete's sake?" I blurted out.

Xigbar exhaled quietly, "You can't stay with them."

"Why not?"

"Because." He sighed, "you aren't human anymore. Or, not all human, anyway."

I stared at him, "That doesn't even make _sense._"

"Listen," Xigbar said, his tone softer, less teasing, "I can't explain it all now. You'll just have to trust me, okay?"

If I wasn't slightly convinced that he was telling the truth I would have said something smart-alack-y like, _Yeah, sure, let's trust the random cloaked creeper man who snuck up on me in the middle of the night. That's a great idea._ But, since part of me was still thinking about the creature, and I could practically feel the icy coldness it had left in my chest, I said, "I still don't see why I can't just do home and pretend this never happened."

Xigbar thought for a moment, "You could, but before long you'd realize that you don't feel happy, or sad, or angry, or anything anymore. You might _think_ you have those emotions, but they're hollow and pointless. Eventually, you'd want to leave."

I didn't respond to this for a while, just kind of looking blankly at him, _Greeeeeat. Some crazed lunatic found me and wants to take me to where-ever-the-heck and murder me or something._ "And what if I refuse?"

Xigbar chuckled dryly, "I don't think that's such a good idea." He held out his hands and a dark shadow surrounded them for a moment before solidifying into some type of gun that I'd never seen before.

I was again left with no way to respond. I blinked a few times and shook my head slightly to clear it. _This is insane. This is insane. This is insane._ I repeated this sentence a few dozen more times in my head, unable to form any other coherent thought. Xigbar stood patiently, although after a minute I heard him exhale boredly. Finally, my curiosity overcame my fear, "Fine. I'll come. 'S not like my life here is that interesting anyway."

Xigbar's guns disappeared in a puff of darkness, "Good. I'm not in the mood to shoot little girls anyway."

"I'm 19, thank you very much." I snapped.

Xigbar cocked his head to the side slightly, "Really? You look sixteen, at least."

I snorted. I knew perfectly well how short I was for my age, but even that was an exaggeration. "Oh, shut up." I muttered, unable to think of a better comeback.

Xigbar chuckled again, "Now come on, let's go."

"Where?" I asked again.

"No matter how much you pester me I still can't tell you."

I shrugged, "It was worth a shot."

**So, how was it? Decent? Bad? Worst thing you've ever read? I don't want to sound like a review hog, but I seriously want to know what you think. I'm self-conscious like that, which is most of the reason I didn't want to post this at first. I'm almost done with the first chapter so that should be up soon. Maybe tomorrow.**


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